Grab Teams Up With Japan’s Credit Saison for Lending Services

Singapore based company Grab has formed a venture with Japanese card company called Credit Saison Co Ltd. to issue loans and lending serviced in the country, marking the taxi company’s biggest leap into financial services till date.

The new change will be part of Grab Financial, which offers a different range of services, from payments to loyalty services, Grab said in a statement on Tuesday.

The joint venture company, Grab Financial Services Asia, aims to provide micro-financing products. It plans to leverage Grab’s network of millions of customers, including small businesses as well as data on consumer behavior, then combines it with the Credit Saison’s intel in credit annals and consumer lending.

Jason Thompson, managing director of Grab Financial, said that “Grab Financial Services Asia is building a reliable alternative to traditional credit scoring methods that are customized for the unbanked majority of consumers and small businesses in Southeast Asia.”

Grab which started off as a ride-sharing app and faces competition from companies like Uber has been making its way into the financial services over the last two years by teaming and acquiring companies to spread usage of its mobile wallet. Hence, this news might be a start to something big Grab has planned.

The new venture also offers credit scoring services to financial firms who can is the existing information to provide other services, for example, virtual credit cards. Grab is active and operates in eight countries, and the Grab app has over 86 million downloads on smartphones, and it offers taxi and on-demand food delivery services. Grab also announced that it has teamed with Chubb Ltd to provide insurance coverage to all of Grab’s drivers. So, for now, we will have to wait and see how Credit Saison takes off and see what more things Grab will have under its hold in the coming financial year.

Source: Grab’s Statement/ Reuters

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Lakshmi Chirumamilla is an associate editor at StartupWorld. Lakshmi has a deep knowledge about the concept of a Startup and she works with Startup Founders across the globe to help them share their success story on StartupWorld. Prior to becoming an Associate Editor, Lakshmi interned with JWT Mindset and NDTV - national news channel that provides the latest news from India and the world. She spends her free time with a book or a sketchpad.